When thinking about wines made from wild vines, amphora experimentalists and almost ‘natural’ fermentations, Anthony Tindal isn’t immediately seen as the flag waving follower of these more radical styles. Yet, new to our list are a number of small production parcels of wine from the outreaches of Chile, made by adventurous, educated winemakers looking to inject a bit of life into the Chilean wine trade and show the world that, while house wines remain the mainstay of Chilean production on export markets; there are many more strings to their bow. We had a selection of these wines open to taste at

In Keeping with this theme here’s a short piece on Harriet and Anthony’s trip to Margaret River last March, the wines they tried and the craic they had. Anthony does a World Trip annually taking in Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. I (Harriet) was lucky enough to join him for the NZ/OZ leg of the trip. As with all these trips you need some down time… we took a 2 day break from the wine-tasting marathon and swam with sharks (well I paddled!) in the surf spots (see above) around the points of Margaret River. With me

In 1882 Alfred Tubbs purchased 254 acres of rugged land at the base of Mount Saint Helena and planted vines.1972 was the Barrett’s first vintage at Montelena. In 1976 a who’s who of the French wine and food establishment gathered for ‘The Judgement of Paris’. Four white Burgundies were tasted against six California Chardonnays. Chateau Montelena’s 1973 was voted number One. Bo Barrett has been involved in every vintage at Montelena since 1972. We are very lucky to have him presiding over the dinner and giving an insight into these fantastic wines. Wines to go with dinner include: Napa Valley

“Wine makes every meal an occasion, every table more elegant, every day more civilised.” Andre Simon. Following two evenings of delicious food and fantastic wines from the collection of estates owned by Joseph Henriot: Champagne Henriot, Bouchard Pere et Fils and William Fevre Chablis, it stands to reason that some reflection of the enjoyment and enrichment the consumption of fine food and wine gives to us all is due. Catherine Léonard from Maisons and Domaines Henriot led each evening, one at the renowned Artisan restaurant in Galway and the second at Locks Brasserie in Dublin. At the start of each

Alpamanta in the local native culture means “Love to Earth”. The owl on the front label represents the owl that was spotted on the site before the vineyards were planted. Alpamanta Estate is a new venture 40 km south of Mendoza in a district called Luján de Cuyo. Last week we had a visit from one of its founders Andrej Razumovsky. Half danish, half Austrian he’s not what you’d expect from a man who places his hopes in the constellation of the stars and the bio-dynamic calendar! We organised a small gathering in Behan Lodge at The Residence to learn

Just been handed the latest in a string of articles about LarryCherubino’s Wines. No hint of ‘spice’ or ‘succulent tannins’ mentioned in these awards! This time an off the wall ode to all things Aussie. Bottom right under the wine that took the title ‘For Services to wine porn’ you’ll see our own AdHoc winning ‘Services to truth in wine labelling’ for their ‘Shiraz from the middle of everywhere’. They’ve obviously got some good ground there too though, cos it’s fairly delicious…

23.02.10 Up early and off to the Los Robles vineyards in the Colchagua Valley.These vineyards are both biodynamic and organic. They have their own farm animals for manure and have replanted the surroundings with myriads of native wild flowers. Chickens and bees share the surroundings picking and pollinating as they go. Emiliana use nine biodynamic preparations to attract cosmic forces and animal energy. These are: Horn Manure Silica or quartz Yarrow blossoms (Achillea millefolium) Chammomile blossoms (Chamomilla recutita) Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) Oak bark (Quercus pedunculata) Dandelion flowers (Taraxacum officinate) Valerian flowers (Valeriana officinate) Horsetail plant (Equisetum officinate) The medicinal herbs help